As most of you already know, last year's task was designing an architectural installation that would prove itself useful to the artists and artizans of Metelkova mesto (as we like to call it, Ljubljana's most creative part of town). The winning proposal was an urban stage boasting a striking white colour that tempted the graffiti artists - regular guests of the surrounding Hall of fame wall – to transform it using their colour sprays.

And so our White Dancer became a regular Transformer.

Here it is in June 2009 in all its virginal glory.

A week later, the first shy couple of drawings appear, ranging from signatures to more expressive pieces.

Our stage in end-July 2009, already starting to merge with the background. A bunch of details made with magic markers suggest the stage can be a handy canvas for its Friday night visitors.

In September 2009, a surprise awaits: our stage has entered its goth phase, presumably to honour a more alternative performance on it. Oh, about the chair facing the other direction? We have no idea. Given the occasion it was perhaps an Alice in Chains tribute or something.

In October 2009, the installation became an extension of the wall, hosting a kind of a 3D graffiti. Nice.

And finally, just a week ago, in June 2010 the stage decided to go black again. It is not completely covered as it hosted a DJ set during the summer breakdance & graffiti jam during which the walls were re-painted.

A year has passed since the stage was introduced to its new surroundings. We are happy to see it prosper and are curious to see the art it will be doned in in 2011.

“Already?” is the most common response by anyone who hears about our active preparations for this fall’s competition. Organizing a competition is much like moving. You can only imagine how much work it really takes, how grateful you are when someone offers help and what levels of excitement you can reach when it’s over successfully. And, yeah, there is some colorful language involved when you accidentally drop something and it (metaphorically) lands on your toes.

Anyhoo, what exactly is our team doing? We are busy preparing the task, which is still officially undercover but I can promise it will be very engaging. With a lot of help from the students of the Faculty of Social Sciences we’ve made a preliminary survey among the people who will be in direct contact with the new installation to better understand their needs and listen to their proposals. The results of these interviews revealed a variety of interesting aspects the residents miss the most in their urban surrounding. But hey, let’s keep some mystery for the fall, right? ;)

Another interesting part is visiting the faculties. We’re proud to say we’ve met some great professors, lecturers and professionals on a couple of well-known faculties in different countries who helped us with the task and have agreed to include the project in their curriculum. Other forms of cooperation will also take place and you can again expect the presentations on faculties.

Then there’s the visual. Certainly a fun task for our creatives, who are eagerly brainstorming, designing, writing, re-writing, snapping photos, programming and sometimes just sitting around drinking coffee and perusing design magazines to find the latest news to put on our Facebook page. By the way, yeah, we have just launched a new Facebook page and you’re welcome to check it out. It will soon be completed with said visuals (that will be also performed as posters, leaflets and banners) and we will proudly reveal a re-designed official page as well.

Last but not least: the extra activities. Last November, the second-placed proposal in the 2007 competition was permanently realized in front of the Tivoli sports hall (Hala Tivoli). The pavilion, attracting much attention from passers-by will most likely serve as a creative information spot – and certainly a nice reference.

So, now that we got the activities covered – what’s new with you? Drop us a line or connect with us, the more people the merrier the competition ;)